I think CE is the best era in the game. Maybe one of the later era's is better, but i'm camped in CE for now. 1 AAV and 7 Rogues can beat almost anything. Other than that, 8 attack helicopters can beat almost anything. Future era is great, but you don't need to be in FE to have hover tanks.
Do the story quests as far as you can, and go as far as you can on the map. level your Arc up to 80, then level your Chateau F up as high as you can. Eventually the story quests will give you hovers as a prize, even though you're not in Future Era yet. The level of your CF will determine how many hovers you get...that's why you want to level your CF up high before you do that story quest. I'm not sure how early it is possible to get hovers, but you can get them in CE, maybe you can get them in PME. Some story quests will make you research a new technology or research a military technology...so whatever era you're in, leave a few technologies unfinished if you can...that way, you're not forced to move up an era just so you can meet the requirements of the next story quest.